This is a blog post to advise you of the Council’s new Guidance for the Control of Sound at Outdoor Events, developed following the Culture 2020 public consultation which took place in January to April 2015. We have a number of questions that we would like you to consider. These are set out at the end of this post. Why are we altering the sound levels? Our new Events Strategy sets out the number of major event days we will have across Lambeth. We have split the borough into 5 zones and have allocated up to 8 major event days per zone. This does not mean these events will be loud but we do want to have a sound policy that is suitable. We are proposing to have the same sound levels as other places such as Hyde Park or Victoria Park. This means we can have events that will raise income for Lambeth that we can then use to reinvest into our open spaces. For instance a concert on Clapham Common has previously raised over a £100,000 that can then be reinvested into our local open spaces. However, these event organisers are going elsewhere and Lambeth is losing out on this income. So what is changing? The changes consulted on in the Culture 2020 public consultation were an increase to the decibel levels for the major event day’s only. All other days will have lower levels as decided on a case by case basis. These levels will be monitored by onsite professional sound acousticians and there will be easy ways to raise any issues about these events through online and...

Cultural Services by 2020 Dear All, A wide-ranging consultation on the future of cultural services in Lambeth is launched today and we want to give everyone the opportunity to express their opinion on the events,arts, parks, libraries and sports facilities. The council is facing unprecedented cuts to its core funding and has to save £90 million by 2018. It means a saving of just over half of cultural services budget for 2013-14. With an anticipated population increase of more than 30,000 in the next ten years, we want to use our assets now to raise income that can be invested more widely for the future. So, we’re proposing significant changes in how cultural services are provided in Lambeth, including Events and Parks. We want to be more ambitious around generating income in our parks. We are consulting on a proposed events strategy to hold more events across the whole borough, bring our sound levels for events into line with the majority of London and bring a cultural festival to Lambeth. Libraries, Arts and Sports services are also a part of the consultation. We have had thousands of conversations with local people over the last few years which have helped shape the proposals put forward today. We want to continue to work with residents to make sure we find the best solutions to the challenges we face. How to have your say You can find the overview booklet, all documentation and a questionnaire online at www.lambeth.gov.uk/culture2020consultation and in all Lambeth libraries. The consultation will close at midnight on Friday 24 April 2015. ...